Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a technique that makes it possible to perform Fibre Channel (FC) communication over an Ethernet (registered trademark), which is the de facto standard in a Storage Area Network (SAN). With FCoE it is possible to integrate both a Local Area Network (LAN) by Ethernet and SAN, which are individually deployed, into one network. As a result, it is possible to reduce by half the number of switches, adapters and cables, and simplify network management.
In an FCoE network, there is at least one FCoE Forwarder (FCF), which is a device in which a Fibre Channel Mapper (FCM) is implemented. The FCF executes encapsulation and decapsulation of packets, and FIP (FCoE Initialization Protocol) processing.
In an FCoE network, when relaying a packet so as to pass through the FCF, there is a problem in that the path of the packet from the transmission source to the destination may not be the shortest path (in other words, a wasteful path occurs). On the other hand, when a specific device (for example, a FCF) makes relay settings for each of the switches so that packets are not relayed by way of the FCF, there is a problem in that there occurs a concentrated processing load in the device. In the conventional techniques, sufficient research has not been performed in regard to these problems.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2014-96682
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-186377